Mobile app new tool to bust graffiti in Troy

The Graffiti Buster app was created by Tim Varney of Troy Web Consulting

TROY -- On July Fourth, as many eyes were turned toward fireworks displays, some were turned to the downtown streets. With spray-cans in their hands they left new, and unwanted, marks on city buildings.

A graffiti tag was left on the side of Famous Lunch, another down the Williams Street alley, but Mitchell Gaies may have received the worst. When Gaies arrived at the Troy Light Company on July 5, he was dismayed to find the front of his building had a message scrawled across its length.

"We've already spent hours trying to get it off," said Gaies, who is the third generation of his family in the lighting business. "It's already been vastly greater an effort than any reward whoever did it will get out of it."

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While graffiti is not frequent in that section of downtown, said Gaies, the fresh marks at 85 Congress Street come on the heels of a tag that was left on newly installed receiving doors. "We left on 5 p.m. that night and at seven the next morning it was there," he said.

The warmer months have brought a fresh wave of graffiti, and city officials are contemplating a new method to combat the vandalism -- smartphones.

There is now an effort to put a mobile application, which would combat graffiti, in city residents' hands.

The Graffiti Buster application, developed by Troy Web Consulting, a tech company near Monument Square, allows passersby to report graffiti -- anonymously, if they so choose -- by typing in a description of the markings, snapping a picture with their phone, and sending it directly to the city.

"You're walking down the street, casually take out your phone and, within 30 seconds, type in and take a photograph and you're on your way," said Tim Varney, director of mobile application development for Troy Web Consulting.

The reports are then sent to city officials, who can then use the data to analyze the graffiti for possible gang activity, more quickly match known tags to suspects, and make arrests.

The application came about after Varney's Albany neighborhood, Center Square, experienced a rash of graffiti recently. At the time, Varney was looking for a concept application to test out a new technology. The incident spurred the idea for the Graffiti Buster app.

In March, the app was picked up by the Albany city government. So far, it has been downloaded 350 times and more than 300 images of graffiti have been uploaded. It is possible that the app might begin busting graffiti in Troy, an effort being spearheaded by Councilman Ken Zalewski (D-District 5).

"I feel very confident, after seeing a demo of the application, that the city will follow through with this," said Zalewski. "My guess is that the city will be able to move forward with this within the month."

The application would cost the city a yearly fee of $200 and it is free for citizens to download.

"This allows citizens to become additional eyes for the police department," said Zalewski. "The Graffiti Buster application is not going to prevent graffiti, but it is going to allow police to get to the bottom of who is committing these crimes and hopefully track these people down and arrest them."